How Not to Lose Your Hat and Gloves

It’s easy and boils to down to one simple technique. When you’re not wearing your hat or gloves, always keep them in designated pockets where you can quickly find them—and just as quickly notice if they’re not there.

Here’s my system. Whatever cold-weather gear I’m wearing—Gore-Tex or down jacket, say, or just a toasty fleece—I always keep my hat in the right-hand pocket and my gloves in the left-hand pocket of my outermost layer. As a fan of simple mnemonics to help me keep track of things, I think of it this way:

This system makes it easy for me to find my go-to hats and gloves, especially when I’m switching between different winter layers from day to day. It’s especially useful (and time-saving) on winter camping adventures, when it’s easy to lose track of these items amidst the many additional items of clothing (and multitude of pockets) such excursions engender.

A couple of caveats, however. First of all, your hat and gloves need to be compact enough to comfortably fit in your pockets. (My day-to-day winter glove is a lightweight pair of Black Diamond Midweight Gloves; my hat is a compact and compressible WindPro fleece beanie.) Secondly, you need to have adequate pockets in the first place; consider upgrading the importance of pocket capacity as you evaluate your winter layers.

Do you have other techniques for keeping track of your hat and gloves? Please share!

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Equipped blogger Matt Heid is AMC's gear guru: He loves gear and he loves using it in the field. While researching several guidebooks, including AMC's Best Backpacking in New England, he has hiked thousands of miles across New England, California, and Alaska, among other wilderness destinations. He also cycles, climbs, and surfs.